Hi PH π Solo maker here. Launching Web Lock 2.0 on Oct 27
Hey everyone, I'm Khokon. I'm a developer who builds small tools that fix small annoyances. I've been lurking here for a while and figured it's time to say hello properly.
A few years ago I built a browser extension for myself. It puts a password in front of specific websites, like the app lock on your phone, but for the web. I never really promoted it, but it quietly grew to 10,000+ installs. Most of the people using it share a computer with family, partners, roommates or coworkers, and just want their email, chats or photos to ask for a password first.
Those users have sent me hundreds of feature requests over the years, so I rebuilt the whole thing from scratch. Web Lock 2.0 launches here on Tuesday, October 27. It adds a completely new design, lock screen themes, scheduling, and a lot of the things people have been asking for. It still works without an account, and your password and site list stay in your own browser.
A few things about me:
I work on this solo, so every bug report and feature request lands in my inbox and I read all of them
I care more about tools being calm and simple than about them being clever
Strong coffee over tea, and I'm ready to defend that in the comments β
I'd love to meet other makers here. What are you building? And if you have launch-day advice for a first-timer, I'm all ears π
Replies
Welcome Khokon, and coffee, agreed. I am building an app that turns a description or your own lyrics into a full song, and it is also a rebuild from scratch that replaced an older app on the same listing, so one thing from that side rather than launch day advice. Your 10,000 existing users meet 2.0 as an update, not as a launch, and they did not ask for a new design, they asked for their features. For a lock tool the scariest moment is the first open after the update: is my password still there, are my sites still locked. If that moment is boring, everything else in 2.0 lands as a gift. If it asks them to set things up again, it reads like the lock forgot them. So I would test the upgrade path from the old version on a real profile with real data as carefully as the new features. Good luck on Tuesday.
@gbasovvΒ Hi George, Thanks for the kind words. I'm sometimes a (bathroom) musician myself. Will definitely see what I can make with Melodo and the scrappy lyrics I've had sitting in my Notes app for years lol. And yes, you're right about calling out the update nightmare, and thankfully, I tested end to end, and it smoothly works for all the existing users as well, they won't loss any data, their password still lives on their browser, along with their protected site list.
@khokonmΒ Ha, bathroom acoustics are underrated. Those Notes app lyrics are exactly the case it is built for, paste them in as they are and pick a style. Great to hear the upgrade keeps the password and the site list, that was the part I would have worried about. Good luck tomorrow, I will look out for the launch!
@gbasovvΒ Thanks George, only a few hours left lol, I'm counting hours and excited about the launch. Meet you at the launch day.
Welcome khokonm. I really like your idea and waiting for the launch. Keep it up.